Lakehouse Insurance Ontario

Lakehouse properties can present different risks than what you may expect. As such, having a broad insurance policy, similar to your insurance policies for a car, home, and boat, will protect you against being held legally liable for all damages and associated expenses.

Knowing that your lakehouse is protected when you are away will offer you a much-needed sense of safety and security. It also allows you to spend your vacation worry-free with your friends and family. Lakehouse insurance in the province of Ontario can protect vacation property owners against:

• Your property has been damaged.
• Injuries or death to third parties
• Associated medical expenses
• Vandalism and theft
• Legal fees that may be incurred as a result of a lawsuit

Having a lakehouse as your vacation home comes with a higher potential for injury or death situations to arise. Some of these situations include:

• Accidental drowning
• Diving into shallow water
• Boat propellers
• High-speed boating
• Water skiing

While lakehouse insurance is not mandatory in the province of Ontario, having sufficient liability insurance coverage can give you peace of mind. Instead of running the risk of being held personally responsible for unexpected accidents, damages, and losses, having lakehouse insurance will ensure that you and your vacation home are safeguarded with an insurance policy that reflects your needs as a lakehouse owner.

R&R Plan offers comprehensive cottage insurance for cottage owners in Ontario in the following categories:

Seasonal Cottage Insurance

This seasonal cottage insurance policy protects your secondary home against:

• Fire damage
• Storm damage
• Theft and vandalism
• Building collapse
• Liability coverage available for up to $5,000,000
• Protection for an outbuilding, decks, and docks without any additional costs.

Secondary Cottage Insurance 

With our Secondary Cottage Insurance policy, we offer year-round, guaranteed replacement costs while protecting your cottage and personal belongings against:

• Fire damage
• Storm damage
• Theft and vandalism
• Damage from bears, raccoons, and squirrels
• Liability coverage available for up to $5,000,000

Cottage Rental Insurance 

With the cottage rental insurance policy, you’ll have coverage that includes:

1. Personal liability protection in the event a third party injures themselves on your property
2. Owner’s liability protection against loss or damage caused by your boat
3. Rental income protection against financial loss due to damage or insured perils

You’ll be thoroughly covered for up to six months of the year with this insurance plan

Builders Cottage Insurance 

Start your cottage construction while protecting your structure against damage and liabilities. This coverage includes:

• Protection of building materials both on and off-site
• Coverage during transportation and construction

When applying for seasonal cottage insurance, the following is not typically offered in standard cottage insurance plans:

• Septic backup and flooding
• Earthquakes
• Fuel oil release
• Damage or complete loss of motorized vehicles, campers, and trailers
• Buildings used for farming or other business purposes

However, cottage owners in Ontario have the ability to add to their portfolio our additional cottage insurance options for secondary property owners, which include:

• Protection from damage that results from squirrels, bears, raccoons, snow loads, freeze-ups, and short-term rental residents
• Protection for outbuildings, decks, docks, and outdoor equipment without any extra fees added
• Protection from damage that is caused by septic backup and flooding, earthquakes, fuel oil release
• Coverage for damage or total loss of motorized vehicles, campers, or trailers
• Coverage for buildings used for farming or other business operations

Our additional cottage insurance coverages provide cottage owners with more flexibility and peace of mind while remaining within their budget constraints during their time at the lakehouse.

Whether or not lakehouse insurance is mandatory is determined by the province in which your cottage is located. On that note, home, condo, and tenant insurance are not required by law in Ontario. However, banks and mortgage lenders generally need home buyers to provide proof of home insurance before advancing a mortgage.

Having a home by the water is vastly different than living in the city. Having a waterfront home means you are significantly more at risk of damage from events such as:

• Windstorms
• Huge waves
• Hurricanes
• Floods

Events like these can cause catastrophic loss and damage to your lake home. Your property will still be considered high-risk even if you are not in a “high-risk” zone for flooding. Even if your house is down the street, any body of water can still cause a flood that could make its way to your home.

Therefore, it’s important to ensure your lake house has flood insurance. As flooding is not typically part of standard secondary home insurance plans, make sure you talk to your R&R insurance specialist about our additional coverage options to ensure you are fully protected against flooding.

The replacement cost is often a significant factor in determining cottage insurance. The more it will cost to replace your home, and its contents, the higher your cottage insurance premiums will be. Therefore, the larger the lakehouse, the higher your insurance rate will be.

In addition to knowing the square footage of your lakehouse, it’s important to know the following when getting insurance quotes:

• The age of your property
• How it was built
• The size of it (square footage)
• The number of floors it has
• Whether the basement is finished or unfinished

By knowing this information about your vacation home, you’ll be able to accurately gauge how much insurance protection you need to cover your home’s replacement value. This way, you can avoid being caught short and having to cover the rest out of pocket in the event your lakehouse needs to be replaced.

Thankfully, with R&R Plan, no vacation home is too small or too large to insure. As long as you do not reside on the property all year, then you will qualify for secondary or seasonal cottage insurance. In addition, cottage owners have the option of adding additional cottage insurance coverage options to ensure they are fully protected and ready for anything.